There was good news last month about migrant families staying in the state-run overflow shelter at the Registry of Deeds building in East Cambridge. Most of the shelter residents have obtained leases enabling them to move into private housing with the aid of a state program called HomeBase, which supplements rent payments for up to three years, city housing liaison Maura Pensak told city councillors Sept. 23.
“I think that’s a pretty wonderful opportunity for folks to get out of the shelter and start their new life,” Pensak said.
Yet it isn’t known when that will actually happen. Pensak said the 29 families approved for HomeBase subsidies were waiting for their benefits to be “processed.” How long have they been waiting? City spokesperson Jeremy Warnick referred questions to the state agency running the overflow shelter program, the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. Kevin Connor, spokesperson for that office, declined to answer, saying information about families in the Cambridge facility might violate their privacy.
Connor would provide only a median wait time for all HomeBase applicants throughout the state: 12 days, meaning half of all families waited less than 12 days and half waited longer to complete processing. He did not answer when asked for a range from shortest wait to longest wait. Local organizations helping people apply for HomeBase and to find landlords willing to participate have complained that the program is so complicated, particularly for owners, that some landlords have pulled out because of the process and delays, according to a Boston Globe report.
Meanwhile, the total number of families living in the shelter – 42 – did not change in the two weeks since Pensak provided the city’s update to councillors, according to figures from Connor. He didn’t answer when asked how many families of the total are waiting for HomeBase benefits to be processed. Connor said the shelter can house 175 people, or about 55 families. When the facility opened in December it had a capacity of 200 people, officials said at the time.
Policies’ effect on shelter
Pensak said that occupancy in the shelter dropped after the state imposed a five-day limit on stays in the overflow shelters starting Aug. 1. Migrant families feared that if they entered a shelter and didn’t find a place to stay, in Massachusetts or elsewhere, within five days, they would face the second prong of the new policy: a six-month wait before they could reapply to a shelter.
“So a number of people, at least early on, were not accepting the offer of being placed in a temporary center. However, the state has been working with folks to help them understand that that five days is initial, but if the families are working with the case managers they’ll really be getting resources,” they can stay longer, Pensak said.
More families began choosing to try the overflow shelter, she said. Some have been placed in regular shelters for homeless families, others have moved out of Massachusetts. And, “in fact, it has been working out that a number of families are accessing HomeBase and finding leases and moving on,” Pensak said.
Those waiting for HomeBase may get two time extensions totaling up to 60 business days under details of the state policy that were provided by Connor. Families in other situations, such as serious illness, death or delays in scheduling transportation out of the state can get shorter extensions.
Families with HomeBase won’t be moving to housing in Cambridge because it’s too expensive here, Pensak said to a question from councillor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler. “We have tried to make that happen. But it’s both finding a unit that is really affordable in the long term and making sure that you stretch HomeBase as far as you can go, because it’s $45,000 over three years. And so you know, the less expensive the unit is to begin with, the longer you can be able to stretch that money,” Pensak said.
What else the city can do
As for other opportunities here for homeless migrant families, the Cambridge Housing Authority puts families with certain housing emergencies at the top of its waiting list for low-income housing. But those emergencies – facing no-fault eviction, domestic violence, a natural disaster or eviction by the city – require applicants to be living here before becoming homeless, which doesn’t fit the migrants’ story, CHA executive director Michael Johnston said.
Councillor Ayanna Wilson asked Pensak about other city programs helping homeless people get housing. One program is for homeless individuals, not families, Pensak said. Speaking of her office, which tries to help anyone with housing needs, she said: “We have certainly tried to connect folks to some of the units that we know that might be less expensive, or to [subsidized] units that might be available. Unfortunately, sometimes it’s a long process to that, and it’s just been much quicker for families to find housing in other locations. Then in terms of the housing authority, we can help people get on the list, but that’s a long wait list.”
Pensak said the East Cambridge shelter is still closed during the day – city officials, state Rep. Mike Connolly and state Sen. Sal DiDomenico have advocated in vain to keep it open around the clock – but the contractor hired to run the shelter arranged to open a daytime center at 810 Memorial Drive. “and there’s a lot of services and resources being offered there.”
Help from organizations
Beside Pensak’s office, the school department, libraries, Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee, Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge Public Health Department and Community Learning Center are among the agencies that have offered help to families in the shelter. “As a city, we’re continuing to work very closely with the state and with the [shelter contractor]. The school department has been working very closely also to really monitor the shift in student population, and we’re going to continue to do that and hope that we can assist the families in whatever way we can,” Pensak said.
Warnick, the city spokesperson, said Pensak’s office also has “responded to several local faith-based groups, who have had questions and interest in supporting families. When appropriate, they were connected with the state” and shelter contractor.
A nonprofit organization based in Arlington, ArCS Cluster, is also recruiting residents in Cambridge, Arlington and Somerville to host migrant families seeking asylum. ArCS Cluster was founded by Eric Segal, a retired software professional in Arlington, to help the state meet its legal obligation to house homeless families. Overwhelmed with new arrivals fleeing violence, repression and economic breakdowns abroad, Massachusetts now sharply limits housing help for migrant families.
The nonprofit works with the state, which provides transportation and other supplemental services to the local families and their guests.
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I served on the Board of the Hildebrand Family Self Help Center for over 15 years . Our familes sat in shelter for years. Remember that getting a section 8 or placed in a place with home based section 8 is very hard. These families who get other assistance still need an array of service such as citizenship, english, food, mental heath and sometimes domestic abuse management. This is incredibly complicated. Also just not fair for Migrants to jump the line. I am a very Anti Trump person but the Asylum abuse was out of control. It pits poor against poor for services. I have spent a lot of time helping others and supporting immigrants. Most immigrants who came legally or not did mot walk directly into services. Thats why its hats off to them in every way. Asylum abuse is a very unique solvable problem. I am not turning my back on Migrants but remember we have thousands of families ( many immigrants) who have waited for years in shelters.